Israel's finance minister said Moody's decision to cut the outlook for Israel's sovereign credit rating was "not a big drama" and reiterated his stance that the government's plan to overhaul the judiciary would help the economy.
The prime minister blasts the agency for downgrading Israel's credit outlook, saying that "the concern that Moody’s analysts raise about the public controversy and its effect on Israel’s political and economic stability is natural for those who do not know the strength of Israeli society."
In its decision on Friday, Moody’s kept the overall A1 rating in place, allowing the Jewish state to stay in the upper end of the investment-grade category.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog lobby Moody's Investor Service in an attempt to keep Israel's positive standing.
More than half of the country's startups held an account with SVB, companies and venture capital investors said, in some cases their only US banking facility although the amounts involved are not fully known.
"We have an obligation, of course, to try to protect these companies, whose main operations are in Israel and will remain in Israel, and also their employees," Netanyahu tells cabinet.
Agency keeps Israel's A1 positive credit rating, but warns that "there could arguably be downward pressure on those scores" if the Knesset fully passes the legislation, which some say could undermine an independent judiciary.
As the protests over the government's proposed judicial reforms see no signs of abating, the largest US investment bank warns that "the scale of economic/market impact is difficult to judge at this stage, but it can be a medium-term negative."
Adani spoke at a ceremony in Haifa welcoming Adani Ports APSE.NS and local chemicals and logistics group Gadot - the partners who purchased the port for 4 billion shekels ($1.15 billion).
"There is no certainty that we can conduct international economic activity from Israel. This is a painful but necessary business step," Eynat Guez, chief executive of Papaya Global, says.